Vietnam Recycles boosts e-waste collection activities in Hanoi

Vietnam Recycles this weekend will kick off its second annual Household Collection program in Hanoi. This follows the success of similar programs in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in educating householders about the importance of recycling their electrical and electronic items earlier this year.

Four wards around the nation’s capital will see the Vietnam Recycles field squad ‘hit the hems’ with a door-knocking information campaign reaching residents of Quan Thanh and Thanh Cong Wards, Ba Dinh District; and Nghia Tan and Yen Hoa Wards, Cau Giay District. The team will be providing educational materials and helping residents understand the importance of environmental protection in Vietnam, with particular attention paid to the impact of discarded electrical and electronic equipment.

In conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Ho Chi Minh City Environmental Protection Agency (HEPA) and local authorities, a range of fun and informative activities will be under-way including parades, surveys, and gifts to residents.

“2016’s Hanoi Household collection campaign saw more than 200 pieces of discarded electronic products removed from people’s back-rooms and laneways, and safely recycled to the highest international standards,” said Ms. Miriam Lassernig, spokesperson of Vietnam Recycles. “Our research however revealed a low level of awareness of important green messages, so we are out in force once again to help people understand the correct way to rid their households of e-waste.”

Meanwhile, Vietnam Recycles has also launched its ’10,000 Pledge’ campaign that asks people to say ‘YES’ to the responsible disposal of electronic products. The pledge, which currently stands just short of half of its stated target.

The VR-team will also be joining Recycling Day at Lac Long Quan Flower Garden, Tay Ho District, Hanoi on 23 September, where its iconic Green Star Man will be suited up for all the selfies Hanoians can muster in a display that will also have an array of interactive activities that promote the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The event will see Vietnam Recycles have a collection point for used, end-of-life or defective electrical and electronic products that will be recycled in a manner that ensures the maximum reuse and recovery of componentry.

“We are aiming to educate as many people as possible – both individuals and decision makers within enterprises – about the importance of professional e-waste recycling,” said Miriam.

Vietnam Recycles collected and recycled just around seven tons of e-waste in 2016, including PCs, printers, fax machines, scanners, servers, phones, TVs, DVD players and so forth. While admirable, this is still a drop in the 100,000 ton e-waste bucket that the Department of Science and Technology estimates that Vietnamese people generate each year.

To draw attention to this issue, Vietnam Recycles also runs a fanpage on Facebook called Việt Nam Tái Chế, to continuously update news about environment, especially e-waste, and call people to reduce, reuse and recycle effectively.

Launched in January 2015, Vietnam Recycles is a free take-back for used or defective electrical and electronic equipment to ensure their safe and environmentally sound recycling. All collected devices will be dismantled in a designated process to assure maximum material recovery of the different commodities and a safe and secure recycling process. Currently, Vietnam Recycles has five collection points in Hanoi.